"Wherever the Russian settles in Asia, the country immediately becomes Russian." (Dostoevsky)

Central Asia is an aggregated term for a large region in Asia. According to the currently preferred definition, it comprises the post-Soviet states in Asia east of the Caucasus, i.e. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. This definition goes back to the Soviet-era economic and geographical term Srednyaya Asya (“Central Asia”), which, however, did not include Kazakhstan.

Other definitions also include other states from the former Soviet influence sphere, i.e. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, situated to the south of the main ridge of the Caucasus, as well as Afghanistan and Mongolia. Another one includes eastern Iran, northern Pakistan, Kashmir and the autonomous regions of Xinjiang and Tibet, which belong to China, but excludes the countries on the South side of the Caucasus.

Tajikistan (population 2023: 10,077,600) is a landlocked country in Central Asia with its capital in Dushanbe. The official languages are Tajik and Russian. The country shares borders with Afghanistan, China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. In the competition with Great Britain for influence in the greater region, Russia conquered the northern part of the Emirate of Bukhara with parts of Tajikistan in 1868, while the southern part survived as a Russian protectorate. In 1918, the northern part was incorporated into the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Turkestan. After its dissolution and the incorporation of the former Emirate of Bukhara into the Soviet Union in 1924, the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created as part of the Uzbek SSR. In 1929 it was separated as the Tajik SSR. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Tajikistan declared its political independence in 1991. The first years of independence (1992 to 1997) were characterized by civil war, and violent border conflicts with Kyrgyzstan continued into the 2020s. This also affected the development of the country's weak economy, which was heavily dependent on remittances from Tajik guest workers in Russia. Agriculture is only possible to a limited extent in the country itself due to its high mountainous location. There is also a small mining and metal processing industry, primarily based on the aluminum mined in Tajikistan.

Uzbekistan (population in 2023: 36,799,800) is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Its capital is Tashkent and the official language is Uzbek and, in the autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan, also Karakalpak. The country borders Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

From 1428, the Uzbek khanates formed in the territory of present-day Uzbekistan, which were at times subject to tribute to the Mughal khans. In 1506, the Khanate of Bukhara (from 1785 Emirate) was established, from which the Khanates of Khiva and Kokand later split off. In 1868, Russia annexed the northern part of the Emirate of Bukhara, while the southern part survived as a Russian protectorate. Khiva became a Russian protectorate in 1873. In 1876, Kokand was conquered and incorporated into the General Government of Turkestan. The Alash-Orda state, which was created during the power struggles in Russia after the October Revolution in 1917, also included parts of present-day Uzbekistan. The Khanate of Khiva was transformed into the Khorezm Soviet People's Republic in 1920, which joined the Soviet Union as the Khorezm Soviet Socialist Republic in 1923. The Emirate of Bukhara also became the Bukhara Soviet People's Republic in 1920, which became part of the Soviet Union in 1924. These pseudo-autonomous entities were incorporated into the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, from which the Uzbek SSR emerged in 1925. In 1929, the Tajik SSR was split off. In 1936, Karakalpakstan and some others territories was ceded to Uzbekistan by the Russian SFSR. The collapse of the Soviet Union paved the way for Uzbekistan's declaration of independence in 1991. A democratic form of government has not yet been established in the country.

Uzbekistan was one of the less developed republics of the USSR. The rural country is heavily dependent on cotton cultivation, which, however, also causes severe ecological damage in connection with the Soviet Union's large-scale irrigation projects in desert areas. In addition to agriculture, the country benefits from natural gas extraction and - to a lesser extent - mechanical engineering.

The Tian Shan is a high mountain range in Central Asia that stretches for around 2450 km over a width of up to 400 km in the territory of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and China. Parts of it have been recognized as a World Heritage Site since 2013 respectively 2016. Its highest mountain is Jengish Chokusu (formerly Pik Pobiedy) in Kyrgyzstan at 7,439 m above sea level.

Kyrgyzstan (population 2023: 7,161,910) is a landlocked country in Central Asia with its capital in Bishkek. The official languages of Kyrgyzstan are Russian and Kyrgyz. Kyrgyzstan is surrounded by China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The Kyrgyz migrated to the region in several phases from the 8th/9th century and established themselves as a politically significant power in the 16th century. In the 18th century, the originally dominant Buddhism finally lost its importance in favor of Islam, which had been present in the area since the 10th century.

In the 18th century, today's territory of the country was initially part of China. From 1762 to 1870, the Kokand Khanate gradually conquered what is now Kyrgyzstan from the south-east, while Russia invaded the region from the north from 1855 onwards. In 1876, Russia also conquered the Kokand Khanate which was incorporated into the Turkestan General Government. The Alash Orda state, which was created during the power struggles in Russia after the October Revolution in 1917, included present-day Kyrgyzstan (partly known as Kokand Autonomy). After the conquest by the Red Army in 1920, these areas were incorporated into the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and, after its dissolution in 1924, were administered by the Soviet central government as the Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Area, which was declared a Kyrgyz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1926. In 1936, it became the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic, which declared its independence in 1991. Since then, Kyrgyzstan has been marked by political unrest, such as the 2005 “Tulip Revolution”, which initiated a democratization process but has suffered setbacks since 2020.

Kazakhstan is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Nur-Sultan is the capital of the country inhabited by about 18.8 million people. The country is located on the shores of the Caspian Sea and has been independent since 1991. The history of the country is marked by various dynasties that established khanates on its territory until the 18th century, when the country was formally ruled by the Russian Tsarist Empire in the 19th century. From 1936 to 1991, Kazakhstan was part of the Soviet Union.

Afghanistan is a landlocked country in Asia, between Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, the People's Republic of China and Pakistan, with capital in Kabul. The officially calculated population is 34,971,517 (2023). The national territory is 652,864 km² and the official languages are Pashto and Persian. The majority of the country consists of high mountains. Dry landscapes dominate in the south and southwest. The term Afghanistan, which has been used for the settlement area of Pashtun tribes since the 16th century, has only been the official name of the country since 1919.

Before the political rise of the Pashtuns in the 17th century, the territory of present-day Afghanistan was under the changing rule of Persian, Turkish, Greek, Hindu and other Central Asian tribal associations and states from ancient times. With the Islamic expansion from the 7th century onwards, Arab rulers penetrated the area. However, Islam only became established here after several centuries, with the Turkish, Uzbek, Mongol, Persian and Arab dynasties, as well as those from northern India, struggling for supremacy.

The Durrani Empire, which split off from the Persian Empire in 1747, is considered the forerunner of Afghanistan. In the 19th century, it was involved in several conflicts, especially with Punjab. The empire, now divided, became embroiled in the Russo-British conflict of interests over influence in this part of Asia. The British finally conquered Afghanistan after two wars (1839-1842 and 1878-1880), although their rule was accompanied by numerous uprisings. In 1893, the British incorporated south-eastern Afghanistan into the Indian crown colony. The demarcation line created at that time is still the disputed border with Pakistan today. In 1919, after a short war, Afghanistan gained its independence. The emirate was transformed into a kingdom in 1926, which became a constitutional monarchy in 1963.

However, the USSR-friendly republic proclaimed after the military coup of 1973 was replaced in 1978 by a Soviet puppet government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, which was only able to survive after the civil war that broke out in 1979 thanks to military intervention by the USSR. The war quickly developed into a proxy war and the Mujahideen, supported by the United States, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, gradually gained the upper hand after the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989. The Islamic State of Afghanistan, which they proclaimed in 1992, was barely able to overcome the existing collapse of state structures and was replaced by the brutal, religious regime of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in 1996 by the Taliban movement, which had formed in exile in Pakistan. The Taliban were defeated in 2001 after military intervention by the USA and its allies, and the legitimate government was reinstated. In 2002-2004, the so-called Islamic Transitional State of Afghanistan was established before the proclamation of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. However, the republic barely survived the withdrawal of international troops in 2021, and the Taliban, still barely recognized internationally, took power again. The situation of the civilian population, and women in particular, in the country, which had been in a constant state of unrest since 1978, deteriorated dramatically even afterwards.

The Emirate of Bukhara was the name used for the former Khanate of Bukhara which was established in 1506 as the direct successor state of the Uzbek Khanate. After the khanate was attacked by Persia in 1740 and became its vassal state, it came to a change of dynasty in Bukhara in 1753, and the now ruling Mangites based their rule on Islamic principles, which were very strictly followed in the country. They used the title Emir, which was officially incorporated into the name of the state in 1785. The emirate was in conflict with the khanates of Kokand, which it briefly occupied in 1842, and Khiva, as well as with Persia and Russia. In 1868, after a two-year war, Russia annexed the northern part of the Emirate of Bukhara with Samarkand, while the southern part continued to exist as a Russian protectorate. In 1918, the Emir tried to switch from the Russian to the British protectorate, but was unsuccessful amid Russian attacks. In 1920, with Soviet help, the Soviet People's Republic of Bukhara was proclaimed which became part of the Soviet Union in 1924. In 1925, the former emirate was absorbed into Uzbekistan.

The Khanate of Khiva was a feudal state in western Central Asia, in the area then known as Khorezm. Its population consisted mainly of Uzbeks, Turkmen and Karalpaks. The later Khanate of Khiva was created in 1511/12 through a split from the Khanate of Bukhara. Between 1588 and 1620, the khan's seat was moved to Khiva, and the old capital Urgandzh was unable to recover after earlier destruction and a change in the course of the Amudarya and was ultimately abandoned.

The mutual attempts at conquest lasted until the 17th century. Even later, the khanate was attacked by various rulers due to the control of trade routes and its assumed wealth. In 1740, the Khanate was briefly conquered by the Persian Empire. The first Russian attempts at conquest took place in 1717, and these increased in the 19th century, so that Khiva became a Russian protectorate in 1873. In 1920, it was transformed into the Khorezmian Soviet People's Republic, which joined the Soviet Union in 1923 as the Khorezmian Soviet Socialist Republic. This was dissolved in 1924 and the territory of the former Khanate of Khiva was absorbed into the Uzbek and Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republics, and the Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast (now in Uzbekistan).

Khanate Kokand was an Uzbek feudal state in western Central Asia, in the area of Khorezm. It formed its eastern part until its secession from the Khanate of Bukhara around 1710. Its first capital was in Tepakurgan (today in the urban area of Kokand), until it was moved to Kokand around 1740. The khanate was in a conflict between the Khanate of Bukhara, the Khanate of the Kazakhs and the other local principalities in the Ferghana Valley as well as China, to which the Khanate of Kokand was at times subject to tribute, and later Russia. In the second half of the 18th century, when Kokand experienced an economic boom due to its location on the Silk Road, the khanate was also able to claim territorial gains for itself. At its maximum extent, it encompassed parts of the present-day states of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. From 1850, Russia invaded from the north. From 1868, Kokand became a Russian protectorate, and in 1876 it was incorporated directly into the General Government of Turkestan in the Russian Empire. The Alash-Orda state, which emerged during the power struggles in Russia after the October Revolution in 1917, also included the so-called Kokand Autonomy (also known as Turkestan Autonomy), which, however, saw itself as a continuation of the Khanate. In 1918, the Kokand Autonomy was incorporated into the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, from which the Uzbek SSR emerged in 1925.

The Tian Shan is a high mountain range in Central Asia that stretches for around 2450 km over a width of up to 400 km in the territory of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and China. Parts of it have been recognized as a World Heritage Site since 2013 respectively 2016. Its highest mountain is Jengish Chokusu (formerly Pik Pobiedy) in Kyrgyzstan at 7,439 m above sea level.

Persia was the official name of modern-day Iran until 1935, in reference to the name of the Iranian people originating from the Persis region (today the Iranian province of Fars), who began their expansion in the middle of the 6th century BC. Their so-called Old Persian Empire included areas between the eastern Balkans, Egypt and northern India after just a few decades. Conflicts with Ancient Greece occurred relatively early on, but for a long time the image of the empire was shaped more by the development of culture and science as well as economic innovations than by military conflicts.
The end of the empire came quickly as it was conquered by Alexander the Great in 334-330 BC. In 224 or 226, the Persian Sassanids established Eranshahr, which is more widely known as the New Persian Empire. They were able to regain control of parts of Egypt and the Near East and also conquered the western Arabian coast and Yemen. In 642, the empire was conquered by the Arabs.

The foundations for the later Persian state were laid by the Azeri-speaking Safavids, whose empire encompassed the predominantly Iranian-populated areas from 1501. The Zand dynasty won the power struggles that followed the end of Safawids rule. The reign of Zand was characterized by internal struggles and unrest, particularly in the north of their state. In 1796, the Turkmen Kajars came to power. In a series of wars with Russia from 1796 to 1828, Persia lost the Caucasus. Great Britain also tried to assert its interests as an opponent of Russia. In 1907, the two superpowers finally divided Persia into zones of influence, and during the First World War there were battles between British, Russian and Ottoman troops in Persia. In 1925, the rule of the Kajars came to an end and the prime minister, who was regarded as a successful reformer, ascended the throne as Reza Shah Pahlavi.

Tashkent (population 2023: 3,040,800) is the capital of Uzbekistan and the country's largest city. The city is located on the Ankhor River in the east of the country, on the border with Kazakhstan and west of the Tian Shan Mountains. The Uzbeks make up more than two thirds of the population, with Russians forming the second largest group.

Tashkent is the most important industrial center in Uzbekistan and one of the most important in Central Asia, as well as the largest city in this large region. The city has probably existed for around 2,200 years; it is known by its current name since the 9th century and was mentioned as a city in the 11th century. Its location on trade routes favored the development of Tashkent. In the 16th-19th centuries, it belonged occasionally to the Kazakh Khanate. From 1784 to 1807, Tashkent was the capital of the state of the same name. Shortly after its incorporation into Russia, Tashkent became the capital of Russian Turkestan in 1867, which encompassed the whole of Central Asia. After the split of Turkestan in 1924, Samarkand became the capital of the Uzbek SSR, with Tashkent taking over this function in 1930. There were anti-Jewish riots in the city in 1905. During the Second World War, the city was one of the most important destination for evacuations from the areas threatened or occupied by Germany. The factories evacuated at that time contributed to the development of local industry. In 1966, Tashkent was largely destroyed by the earthquake. The first subway line in Central Asia opened here in 1977.

Saint Petersburg is a metropolis in the northeast of Russia. The city is home to 5.3 million people, which makes it the second largest in the country after Moscow. It is located at the mouth of the Neva River into the Baltic Sea in the Northwest Federal District of Russia. Saint Petersburg was founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and was the capital of Russia from 1712 to 1918. From 1914-1924 the city bore the name Petrograd, from 1924-1991 the name Leningrad.

Gökdepe (population 2009: 21,465) is a district town in the Turkmen province of Ahal, northwest of Aşgabat. It was built in an oasis with one of the most important Turkmen fortresses, which was besieged several times by Russian troops and finally captured in 1881 after long fighting. In the 1880s, the town received a railroad connection on the route between the Caspian Sea and Samarkand. It was granted city rights in 2008.